50 Years Ago - The Cuban Missile Crisis

[N2NH]

On October 16, 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis began, the nadir of the Cold War with the closest the world has ever come to World War III.


...it is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_warfare), or possibly World War III (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_III), with an American research center estimating that 100 million Americans and over 100 million Soviets would have perished.

The Crisis ended on October 28th with the blockade ending on November 20th, 1962.

The Cuban Missile Crisis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis)

[WØTKX]

I was a kid in elementary school. Scared me more than any ghost or monster story.
That's about the time Grandma introduced me to shortwave and Radio Havana.

[K7SGJ]

I was about 14, and my Grandma introduced me to Jack Daniels. I guess she figured if we were to go up in a fireball, we might just as well burn white hot.

[kb2vxa]

Never let kids watch monster movies before bedtime but the evening news was unavoidable for this 13yo with visions of Hiroshima and Nagasaki fresh from the history books. Two years later Stanley Kubrick relieved his inner tensions as General Ripper released his precious bodily fluids on already frightened America, I really don't that helped much.

[N2NH]

I was a 8 year old in grade school. I can remember that the streets of the city were windswept and totally empty. People stayed home from work and school to be with their families, scared that The End was coming. I couldn't blame them, I felt the same way. Still, my parents would dutifully bring us to school and we'd eat outside at lunchtime and look at the unusually empty streets. Totally empty of people and cars.

Worst time I can remember growing up except for the Kennedy Assassination.

[N8YX]

I was a kid in elementary school. Scared me more than any ghost or monster story.
That's about the time Grandma introduced me to shortwave and Radio Havana.
It's too bad the SWBC services of a number of countries fell by the wayside after the end of the Cold War but apparently many had served their purpose by then.

[n2ize]

So it started on a Tuesday and ended on a Sunday of the following week. and 1962 means I would have been five at the time and living in East New York, Brooklyn. Funny thing is I don't remember it at all. All I can remember is we had school (I was probably in kindergarten) and everything was business as usual. I don;t recall any strange interruptions in school or day to day activities nor do I recall anyone talking about anything strange or scary. I simply don;t remember it. I do remember being told about it years later and I do remember the "cold war". I also recall the Kennedy assasination quite well. But the CMC ? Nope. Don't remember it.

From what I learned of the CMC I highly doubt any atomic missiles would have been launched. But I could understand that there was a lot of fear and uncertainty. Although the atomic bomb was around for a while people were just beginning to get a real grasp of its power and might. Images of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and numerous atmospheric tests were etched into peoples minds and the fears of a worst case scenario prevailed.

https://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/civildefense/falloutsheltersign2.jpg

[kf0rt]

So it started on a Tuesday and ended on a Sunday of the following week. and 1962 means I would have been five at the time and living in East New York, Brooklyn. Funny thing is I don't remember it at all. All I can remember is we had school (I was probably in kindergarten) and everything was business as usual. I don;t recall any strange interruptions in school or day to day activities nor do I recall anyone talking about anything strange or scary. I simply don;t remember it. I do remember being told about it years later and I do remember the "cold war". I also recall the Kennedy assasination quite well. But the CMC ? Nope. Don't remember it.


Weird. I was 6 and can say the same thing. Don't remember the missile crisis at all, but still remember the assassination.

[n2ize]

Weird. I was 6 and can say the same thing. Don't remember the missile crisis at all, but still remember the assassination.

Yeah, the assassination I remember well. I remember I was sitting in my first grade classroom working on my "word chart" when my Mom stopped by the school to bring my lunch. They called me to the principals office and when I walked in there the nuns and a couple of teachers had a TV on and they were talking about the assassination that just happened as it unfolded on TV.

I also remember the Mercury space program and astronaut Gordon Cooper orbiting the earth.

But somehow the CMC slipped me by.

[NQ6U]

I remember the Kennedy assassination too. Of course, I was right there on the grassy knoll at the time.

--Pope Carlo l